(a) (1) The Behavioral Health Consortium, referred to in this subchapter as the “Consortium,” is established.

(2) [Repealed.]

(b) (1) The Consortium shall provide oversight of this State’s private and public bodies or entities that affect behavioral health-care and substance use treatment to ensure the delivery of quality care.

(2) [Repealed.]

(c) (1) The Consortium shall periodically report to the Governor and General Assembly, on a schedule to be determined by the Consortium, to recommend any potential legislative action that ensures quality delivery and expanded access to behavioral health care.

(2) [Repealed.]

(3) The Consortium shall provide a copy of each report under this subsection to the Director and the Librarian of the Division of Legislative Services and to the Delaware Public Archives.

81 Del. Laws, c. 125, §  1;  81 Del. Laws, c. 220, § 1;  83 Del. Laws, c. 243, § 5;  84 Del. Laws, c. 255, § 23;  85 Del. Laws, c. 171, § 1; 

(a) As used in this subchapter:

(1) “Commission” means the Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission.

(2) “Impact Fund” means the Prescription Opioid Impact Fund under § 4803B of this title.

(3) “Settlement Fund” means the Prescription Opioid Settlement Fund under § 4808B of this title.

(4) “Statewide opioid settlement agreement” means as defined in § 4802B of this title.

(b) Legislative Findings. —

(1) Delaware is a high harm state with significant numbers of overdose deaths reported each year.

(2) The powerful, addictive qualities of opioids cause people who are suffering from substance use disorder to face a long road to recovery. The challenges of recovering from an addiction to opioids also has a tremendous impact on families, friends, and other loved ones, and first responders and the health-care system must expend significant resources to address the opioid crisis.

(c) The Commission is established to distribute the money in the Settlement Fund and the Impact Fund and to establish a coordinated and consensus driven effort to repair the harm done to communities in this State by the opioid crisis.

(1) The Commission shall distribute money from the Settlement Fund and the Impact Fund to ensure that the use of settlement proceeds and impact fees is coordinated to abate the opioid crisis in Delaware and not diverted to other purposes.

(2) It is the intent of the General Assembly that moneys from statewide opioid settlement agreements and the prescription opioid impact fee are used to maximize harm reduction from the opioid crisis and to provide Delawareans with a coordinated opportunity to provide input on the best ways to spend these moneys in order to abate the opioid crisis.

(3) The Commission must ensure that decisions on how to spend opioid-related funds are based on the consensus of stakeholders through a process that considers the views and experiences of affected communities.

(4) The terms of statewide opioid settlement agreements, bankruptcy plans, or other agreements for the payment of moneys by defendants in opioid-related litigation may provide a framework for how the moneys may be used to remediate the harm caused by the opioid crisis. The Commission must comply with all applicable terms when disbursing moneys derived from such settlements.

(5) In order to increase the amount of settlement dollars allocated to Delaware, it is the intent of the General Assembly that all state and local governments participate in a coordinated process for all settlement moneys to flow into the Settlement Fund and the Impact Fund.

(d) (1) The Commission shall produce an annual report, published on the Commission’s website, that contains all of the following:

a. The amounts and sources of moneys received by the Settlement Fund.

b. The aggregate amount of moneys received by the Impact Fund.

c. By fund, the amounts and sources of any other moneys received.

d. By fund, the contracts or grants awarded by the Commission, including the identity of each recipient, the amount of the award, the subject matter or program involved, and the primary terms and conditions of the award or contract.

e. By fund, the amounts disbursed in respect to approved contracts, grants, and other authorized expenditures and administrative expenses, including amounts disbursed to qualifying local governments for local government block grants.

(2) The Commission shall provide a copy of the annual report to the Behavioral Health Consortium, to the Director and the Librarian of the Division of Legislative Services, and to the Delaware Public Archives.

85 Del. Laws, c. 171, § 1; 

(a) The Commission shall approve all distributions from the money in the Settlement Fund and the Impact Fund.

(b) The Commission consists of the following 15 members, or a designee selected by the member serving by virtue of their position:

(1) The Attorney General.

(2) The Governor.

(3) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services.

(4) Two members of the Senate, 1 from the minority caucus and 1 from the majority caucus, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

(5) Two members of the House of Representatives, 1 from the minority caucus and 1 from the majority caucus, appointed by the Speaker of the House.

(6) One member of the public, who is a resident of this State, appointed by Governor.

(7) One member of the public, who is a resident of this State, appointed by the Attorney General.

(8) Three members representing each county government in Delaware, appointed as follows:

a. One member appointed by the New Castle County Executive, with the advice and consent of the County Council.

b. One member appointed by the Kent County Administrator, with the advice and consent of Levy Court.

c. One member appointed by the Sussex County Administrator, with the advice and consent of the County Council.

d. 1. If a county is not participating in a statewide opioid settlement agreement in which the county government is eligible to participate, that county is disqualified from appointing a member under paragraphs (b)(8)a. through (b)(8)c. of this section until the county participates in the statewide opioid settlement agreement.

2. If a county is disqualified from appointing a member under this paragraph (b)(8)d., the Governor shall appoint an additional representative from a municipal government under paragraph (b)(9) of this section, who serves until the county is qualified to appoint a member or the Governor appoints a replacement.

(9) One representative of municipal government, appointed by the Governor and selected from a list of 3 names provided by the Delaware League of Local Governments within the 60 days before a member’s term expires or within 30 days after a vacancy. All of the following apply to the member appointed under this paragraph (b)(9):

a. Must rotate annually, on July 1 of each year, from among the municipal governments in this State.

b. Must not represent a municipal government that is not participating in a statewide opioid settlement agreement in which that municipal government is eligible to participate.

(10) One member representing a substance use disorder advocacy group, appointed by the Attorney General.

(11) One member representing the addiction recovery system, appointed by the Governor.

(c) Except as noted under paragraph (b)(9) of this section, appointed members are appointed for a term of 2 years and may not serve more than 3 terms or a total of 6 years. The terms may be consecutive or nonconsecutive. The appointing authority may appoint a member for a term of less than 2 years to ensure terms expire on a staggered basis.

(d) The Governor, or the Governor’s designee, shall chair the Commission. The Commission may elect a member of the Commission to serve as vice chair, with such duties as the Commission assigns. The chair of the Commission is responsible for guiding the administration of the Commission by, at a minimum, doing all of the following:

(1) Notifying the individuals who are members of the Commission of the formation of the Commission, and, if applicable, notifying a person of the need to nominate or appoint members.

(2) Setting a date, time, and place for the initial organizational meeting.

(3) Supervising the preparation and distribution of meeting notices, agendas, minutes, correspondence, and reports.

(4) Establishing a webpage dedicated to the work of the Commission and publishing a list of the members of the Commission and the person who appointed them, meeting notices, agendas, minutes, and reports.

(5) Ensuring that any reports produced by the Commission are distributed to members of the Delaware General Assembly, the Governor, the Behavioral Health Consortium, the Director and the Librarian of the Division of Legislative Services, and the Delaware Public Archives.

(e) (1) A quorum of the Commission, or any committee of the Commission, is a majority of its current members. Official action by the Commission, including making recommendations and distributing funds, requires the approval of the majority of the Commission members present at a public meeting where a quorum of the Commission is present.

(2) The chair and members of the Local Government Committee are selected in the same manner as other committees under subsection (g) of this section.

(3) The Commission shall adopt rules or procedures governing the work of the Commission that include ethics standards and procedures to identify and address conflicts of interest. The Commission’s rules and procedures must be consistent with the terms of the sources of funds under § 4808B of this title.

(4) The Chair of the Commission shall coordinate administrative support for the Commission.

(e) The Commission shall establish a Local Government Committee that shall provide recommendations to the Commission regarding the distribution of money from the Settlement Fund and Impact Fund.

(1) The Local Government Committee must include the 3 members representing county government under paragraph (b)(8) of this section and the member representing municipal government under paragraph (b)(9) of this section and may include additional representatives from municipal governments.

(2) The chair and members of the Local Government Committee are selected in the same manner as other committees under subsection (f) of this section.

(3) If the Commission does not adopt the recommendations of the Local Government Committee, the Commission shall provide a written explanation of the decision and provide an opportunity for the Local Government Committee to respond.

(g) The Commission chair may create additional committees. The Commission chair shall appoint a member of the Commission to serve as the chair of each committee and the initial committee members. Additional committee members may be appointed or removed by the chair of each committee. Individuals who are not members of the Commission may serve as a member of a committee.

(h) The Commission shall solicit and review any recommendations regarding the distribution of money from the Settlement Fund and the Impact Fund from all of the following:

(1) The Behavioral Health Consortium.

(2) The Addiction Action Committee.

(3) Overdose System of Care Committee.

(4) Drug Overdose Fatality Review Committee.

(i) The Commission shall seek input from the public and private entities and individuals concerned with the intended purposes of the Funds and shall conduct public hearings as necessary to provide an opportunity for public comment.

(j) The Commission shall use data and evidence on community harm to guide distributions and may procure reports to help guide the work of the Commission.

83 Del. Laws, c. 243, § 5;  84 Del. Laws, c. 255, § 24;  85 Del. Laws, c. 171, § 1; 

(a) (1) The Commission shall distribute the money in the Settlement Fund and the Impact Fund by awarding grants, by directing the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services to enter into contracts, or by distributing funds to State agencies and local governments to be administered as directed by the Commission.

(2) If the Commission does not approve a grant or funding to a State of Delaware agency or local government, the Commission shall provide a written explanation of the decision and the applicant may be offered the opportunity to revise and resubmit the application.

(3) [Repealed.]

(b) The disbursement of money from the Settlement Fund and the Impact Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer upon authorization by all of the following, on a form designed for this purpose by the chair of the Commission and the State Treasurer:

(1) The chair of the Commission.

(2) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

(3), (4) [Repealed.]

(c) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget may waive the requirements under Chapter 69 of Title 29 for distributions made by the Commission.

83 Del. Laws, c. 243, § 5;  85 Del. Laws, c. 62, § 32;  85 Del. Laws, c. 171, § 1; 

The Consortium is a “public body,” as defined in and for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, Chapter 100 of Title 29.

81 Del. Laws, c. 125, §  1;